MetaCatholic

It would seem to me, in my naïveté that this site offering online ordinations is simply a scam, dressed up in some nonsense. I fear however, that there are people who take it seriously. But I can’t quite get my head round why people who don’t believe in any God would want to go round getting “ordained”.

It seems clear that as well as being barking mad, they must be exceptionally stupid as well. The form that invites you to sign up for ordination says there are “no hidden fees or costs”, but everything in the FAQ says that to do anything with your “ordination” you need to pay for various extras at their online shop – so ordination’s for free, but calling yourself “Reverend” will cost you $89.95.

I did particularly like this bit, however.

Is this ordination legal in Canada?
No, we are not recognised in Canada. Our application to Revenue Canada as a religious non-profit was rejected because we do not include worship of a deity in our services. Canada is not as liberal as the US in recognizing alternative religions and apparently requires a deity, except in cases of ancient religions like Buddhism which are grandfathered in for no apparent reason.

Is this one of the unintended consequences of the separation of church and state?

Two good places to keep up with the ongoing saga of “Rich Texan lawyer threatens to sue Lambeth cartoonist”.

• Matt Wardman’s site. Matt is promising to keep this one going.
• David Keen is keeping, well, a keen eye on things

Note also this post from Iyov, where he reveals the secrets of resurrecting posts from Google’s cache.

For those who want a quick summary to date:

Liar! Liar! pants on fire!
Brewer, Brewer, he’s going to sue yer!

Update 16:40. Here is Matt Wardman’s list.

Who’s Posted about Mark Brewer’s Cease and Desist Notice to Dave Walker

1. St Aidan to Abbey Manor - David Keen - Vicar (Yeovil)
2. The Wardman Wire - Matt Wardman (audio of BBC interview from 12/2007)
3. Gentle Wisdom - Peter Kirk
4. Bishop Alan’s Blog - Alan Wilson, Area Bishop of Buckingham
5. Blogula-Rasa - Ginny (detailed - worth a read)
6. Metacatholic - Doug Chaplin - Vicar (West Midlands)
7. Of course, I could be wrong - Madpriest - Priest (somewhere in England)
8. Seven whole days - Scott Gunn - Parish Priest (Rhode Island) and Lambeth Conference.
9. Thinking Anglicans - Simon Kershaw - Cambridge, England (likely to follow further press coverage)
10. The Jewish Blog Network - How to recover deleted pages. Firefox Resurrect Pages add-on.
11. Lingamish - Blogger Bludgeoned by Bozos - David Ker - Mozambique. Kudos for the cartoon above.
12. [Update: 23/07/2008] SPCK Watch - Gagging attempts by Mark Brewer - SPCK Watch. (Somewhere in Europe). Whole blog devoted to SPCK saga.
13. [Update: 23/07/2008] Elizaphanian - We are all Dave Walkers now - Sam Norton, Rector of West Mersea, Essex. Suggests that we reposts Dave’s ex-posts from Google cache.
14. [Update: 23/07/2008]Mad Hare - Solidarity post - SPCK/SSG and Dave Walker (New Mexico : United States).